


I've Got Your Picture

by WhoKnows1NotMe



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: M/M, Roadtrip, enby virgil
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-11
Updated: 2020-07-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:49:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25201216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhoKnows1NotMe/pseuds/WhoKnows1NotMe
Summary: Roman sees who he knows is the love of his life - but after a meeting with them at a cafe turns hostile, not only must he make it up to them - he has to find them again as well.Disclaimer: Stalking is creepy folks. Don't do it.
Relationships: Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders/Deceit | Janus Sanders/Logic | Logan Sanders
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	I've Got Your Picture

“But Logan, libraries are boring!” Roman whined as Logan pulled him up the steps. “All they’ve got are old books and the only good ones are in the fantasy section, and I’ve already read all of the ones in this library!”

“You read? I’m impressed,” Logan grumbled back. “Look, you have to come with me. I’ll let you go into the fantasy section or look at the scripts for musicals or whatever you want as long as you wait for me to get what I want. Got it?”

“What’s in it for me?”

“You get to read for once, something I’ve seen you do maybe twice. Maybe.”

Logan sighed and rubbed his face in an annoyed gesture as Roman shot him a glare. “Fine. We’ll go to that cafe that you wanted to show me. Fair?”

“Okay!” Roman perked up. Logan had been avoiding it for days, but Roman just knew that he would love the cafe. It was perfect for a nerdy bookworm like him!

They entered the huge doors and walked into the library itself. Roman immediately rushed off to grab the nearest fantasy book and sit on one of the couches as Logan wandered off to god-knows-where. Probably the science section.

As he settled down, Roman took a moment to take in the surroundings. There weren’t many people in the library today. A couple of kids with their parents, a young teen wandering around on their own, the librarian - what was their name? Oh, right, Thomas - who Roman could now see was one of the reasons - or maybe the only reason - why Logan wanted to come here. Logan had started a conversation with them, and it appeared that they wouldn’t stop talking for a while.

Roman pulled open his book to finally start reading, but then something caught his eye. From between the shelves emerged someone he’d never seen before. They had purple hair and was wearing a black hoodie around their waist. A dark purple shirt covered their thin frame. As they turned towards Roman, he saw that dark eyeshadow was put underneath their eyes.

They waved at Roman, a smirk on their face, and he realised that he was staring. He sunk down more into his chair and reopened his book.

As soon as the person started moving again, Roman peeked around his book to watch them. They walked over and checked out the book they were holding - what was it? Roman couldn’t quite see - before heading towards the door. They glanced over their shoulder right at him, the smirk still on their face, before exiting the library, leaving Roman to stare at the place they had been.

“What are you looking at?” Logan’s voice startled him back to reality.

“Uh, nothing!” Roman said hurriedly. Logan’s frown deepened.

“Well, I suppose we have to go to the cafe now. A deal’s a deal.”

Roman perked up. “Oh yeah! Trust me, you’re gonna love it!”

Logan chuckled. “If you say so. But it’s unlikely.”

“That’s what you said last time!”

“And you said I would like it at the waterpark, but I didn’t.”

“Stop fibbing! You totally loved it.”

“I did not!”

After a few more minutes of bickering, they arrived outside of the cafe. Logan tried to look inside through the window, but Roman quickly pulled him back and covered his eyes underneath his glasses. “You can’t look yet!” He chided. “It’s a surprise!”

They walked in the door, the bell chiming, and Roman took his hands off of Logan’s eyes, revealing the cafe in front of them.

The ceiling was covered in a beautiful painting of stars, whole galaxies of purples and blues. The soft glows of the lanterns on the pale cream walls provided a dim lighting that shone over the rest of the cafe. At the back were bookshelves, with labels on each shelf that told you the genre of the books and various signs saying that they were free to borrow for those at the cafe. The wooden floors creaked gently under each footstep, and the customers sat around small wooden tables, speaking in soft murmurs. Behind the counter a couple of baristas bustled around, making orders and fixing drinks. Occasionally they would call out a name and someone would stand up and receive it before quickly returning to their seat.

Logan stood frozen in the doorway, so still that Roman grew worried. “Hey, Lo?” He asked quietly. “Are you okay?”

He looked over the room once more. “Do you like it?”

Logan gave a start as Roman spoke, almost as if he had forgotten he was there. “Like it?” He whispered. “It- it’s beautiful.”

Roman smiled. “I told you you’d love it.” He led Logan over to the nearest free table, Logan apparently too awestruck to do anything himself. “You can go look at the books and stuff while I go order! They’ve got all sorts of books for nerds like you!”

“N-nerds? Roman!”

Roman grinned and went up to the counter. “One medium black coffee with one sugar, and one large cappuccino.”

After ordering he went back to the table and sat down, watching as Logan browsed the shelves.

The bell chimed, drawing Roman’s attention to who had just entered the shop. And lo and behold, it was the person that he had seen at the library, their book tucked under their arm and their long, side swept bangs covering one eye. They looked around the room, and looked startled when they spotted Roman, but quickly schooled their features and gave him a small smirk. They waved, before heading towards the back of the cafe and sitting at a free table.

“Who are they?” Logan’s voice startled him back to reality for the second time that day.

“No one!” Roman answered hurriedly. “I mean, I don’t know.”

Logan frowned. “What do you mean you don’t know?” He sighed and gestured with one hand, the other holding a book. “Go talk to them.”

“What?”

“I’m presuming they were who you were staring at at the library, so-” he made the gesture again. “- go talk to them.”

Roman gaped at him. “I- um, okay.” He stood up and started walking over, trying to look as casual as possible, ignoring the fact that now both Logan and the new person were watching him.

“Hey.” He greeted the person, all casual-like.

“Hi. You’re the person from the library.”

“I am.” Roman looked at the person, and oh god it was so unfair how their eyes were the most perfect shade of brown. “My name’s Roman.”

“Virgil. They/them pronouns.”

“Oh, I use he/him pronouns. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Likewise.” They shook hands.

“So why were you staring at me?”

“Oh, um. Yes. Sorry about that.”

Virgil smirked but didn’t press him.

“So do you live here?” Virgil asked.

“In this town, yes. Why?”

“I don’t. I’m just here for a concert.”

“Oh. Are you alone?”

“No, I’m with a friend.”

“How long are you here for?”

“Why are you asking so many questions?”

Roman blinked. “Um. I wanted… to be friends with you?”

Virgil’s eyes narrowed. “Sure. I’m gonna buy a coffee and leave, and you better not follow me or I’m calling the cops.”

“No, wait! I-”

“Please. Go away.”

Virgil stood up and went to the counter. Roman watched him go, not bothering to follow them - he knew that he would only get pushed away again.

Sighing, he went back to Logan who sat buried in his book, now with his coffee sitting in front of him, Roman’s sitting opposite. Logan looked up as he approached and closed the book, holding one finger on the inside to keep his page.

“It didn’t go well?”

Roman sighed again and slumped into the chair opposite Logan. “Nope.”

“You’ll find love someday.” Logan reopened his book and continued reading.

“But when, Logan, when?!” Roman folded his arms and slumped on the table dramatically. “Tell me why?”

“Ain’t nothing but a heartbreak.” Logan said in a monotone voice, closing his book again. “If I found love, so can you.”

“Uhhhhhhhhhhhh.” Roman groaned and sat up, this time leaning back in his chair. “I still don’t understand how you got the attention of an extremely handsome man and-” he fake retched “- my brother.”

“Your brother is also an extremely handsome man, Roman.”

“Sure he is.”

Now it was Logan’s turn to sigh. “Just tell me what happened.”

Roman dropped his chair forward. “I went up to them and it started out fine but then it all went downhill.” He made a downward motion with his hand.

They stared at each other in silence before Logan made a gesture with his hand. “Continue?”

“That’s it.”

Logan stared at him. “What did you do?”

“Nothing!”

“Falsehood. What did you do?”

“According to them, I asked too many questions.”

“You can be annoying sometimes.”

“I- hey!”

Logan sat back in his chair. “Did you get any information out of them?”

“Um… they’re here for a concert.”

“Do you know which one?”

“Nope. They didn’t say.”

“We’re going to a concert tomorrow. Panic! At The Disco, right?”

“Oh, yeah! They look like an emo, maybe they’ll be there.”

“Perhaps. You need to remember to be on time - we meet at your place at 11.”

“Don’t you trust me?” Roman placed one hand on his chest and gasped in mock offence.  
“Logan, I’m always reliable. Especially with times.”

Logan peered over his glasses at Roman. “Look me in the eyes and say that again, because it is most certainly not true.”

“I’ll be ready, Logan. And I’ll make sure that Remus is too. You have to remember that we are all going together, and you and Remus aren’t to sneak off to snog in some dark corner. Got it?”

“We won’t be doing that. And even if we are, it will be because he initiated it, so you should tell him to behave before we go.”

“He’s your boyfriend.”

“And he’s your brother. Don’t worry, I’ll be warning him as well.”

“Mhm.” Roman looked over at the door, as if he expected Virgil to come back in and say sorry.

The next day Logan knocked on the door of Roman’s house, perfectly on time as he always was. Well, except for that one time where he got distracted by a sale on Crofters and bought 12 jars. Roman would never dare to let him live it down.

Remus greeted him with a kiss and brought him inside.

“Hey, babe.” His usual stern expression softened for a moment before returning to normal. “Where’s Roman?”

Remus gasped in mock offence, a perfect copy of Roman the day before. “Logan Anthony Berry! Are you more interested in my brother than you are in me?”

“Never, love.” They shared another kiss. “But I don’t want to be late.”

“He’s getting changed.”

“Still? What’s his excuse this time?”

“He woke up late and for some reason decided to sing the entire soundtrack of Hamilton in the shower. He’s probably going to tell you that he was late because of ‘artistic difficulties’ or something.”

Roman ran out of the bedroom, pulling on his jacket. “Sorry I’m late! It’s because of artistic difficulties.”

Remus turned to Logan with a look on his face that said What did I tell you?

“Remus told me the actual reason. You’re lucky that Dee is even later than you are, otherwise you would be in enormous trouble right now.”

“I know, I kn-” A knock interrupted him and they all rushed to the door.

Logan opened it to find Janus smirking at him and greeted him with a kiss. “Are you ready to go?” Logan asked while Janus pecked Remus on the cheek.

“If I wasn’t I wouldn’t be here, would I?”

“Then let’s go!” Logan practically pushed them out the door and into his car.

“We aren’t late, Logan! It’s just a concert!” Roman exclaimed as Logan started up the car.

“You and I both know that that isn’t true, Roman. You and Remus have been figuratively talking my ear off about this concert for months.”

“It’s true.” Janus confirmed.

There was an awkward silence before Roman rubbed the back of his neck and said, “Maybe… but still, Lo, it’ll be fine!”

Logan pulled into the parking lot of the theatre. “We’re here.”

There was a moment where everyone unbuckled their seatbelts and got out of the car. Roman and Remus were practically vibrating from excitement as they walked in.

“Remember, all of you need to behave.” Logan warned them.

“I’m always on my best behaviour, Logan! You can trust me!” Remus told Logan, eyes wide with innocence.

“Sure you are.” They shared another quick kiss before Logan turned to Janus. “You need to help me keep him under control.”

“Sure thing, captain.” Janus saluted, a huge grin on his face. “Do I get a kiss as well?”

“Of course.”

Roman interrupted their kiss halfway through. “While I love seeing you lovebirds make out, we do need to elbow our way to the front as soon as we can.”

“Yes. Let’s go.” They headed off into the crowd, more than ready for the concert to start.

Roman and Remus screamed out the words to the songs at the top of their lungs, jumping as high as they could to get a look at the stage. Janus and Logan watched them in happy silence, enjoying every moment.

“Let’s kill tonight, kill tonight! Show them all you’re not the ordinary type! Let’s kill tonight!” They  
hollered along with the crowd and, of course, Brendon Urie, the glorious god of singing himself.

The song ended, and the crowd cheered. Roman and Remus panted, matching grins stretching across their faces as they cheered together.

Logan tapped on their shoulders and they spun around.

“I’m going to go get some water!” He yelled over the crowd.

“I’ll come with you!” Remus shouted back.

“I’ll stay here and keep our spots!”

“Me too!”

Remus and Logan held thumbs up to indicate that they heard them and held off, holding hands totally just so that they didn’t get separated.

They soon returned, carrying two bottles of water each. They handed one to Janus and Roman kept one for themselves each.

“Roman! Guess who we saw!” Logan yelled.

It took a beat before it sunk in. “You saw them?!” He yelled back.

Logan nodded vigorously. “They’re about 10 metres directly behind us!”

Roman immediately stood up on his tiptoes and tried to see over the crowd, even though he was too short to see far.

“I’m gonna go find them!” He yelled at Logan. Logan flashed him a thumbs up and Roman moved off.

After a few seconds he found them, chatting with someone else.

“Hey!” He called, having his arms as he got closer. Virgil turned and saw him, a look of disgust quickly crossing their face before disappearing just as quickly.

Roman reached them quickly and greeted the new person. “Hi! I’m Roman! He/him pronouns!”

“I’m Patton! Also he/him pronouns! It’s nice to meet you!”

They shook hands with each other before Roman turned back to Virgil. “I’m sorry about yesterday! I seemed to have freaked you out!”

“Of course you freaked me out! You were acting like a creep!”

“Again, I’m really sorry about that! Could I make it up to you?”

There was a short pause while Virgil thought it over.

“Come on, Virge! He seems like a good guy!” Patton nudged them. “Give him a chance!”

“And how would you make it up to me?” Virgil asked Roman.

“I could buy you a coffee or something sometime?”

“You’d have to do it tomorrow because I’m leaving the day after that!”

“Alright! May I have your number?”

Virgil frowned. “Can’t we just meet up at the coffee shop we were at yesterday?”

“I mean, I guess, but it would be easier to organize it if I had your number!”

“Sure it would, but it’s just coffee. How about I meet you there at 3?”

“That’s fine by me!”

“Cool, I’ll see you then!”

This was obviously Roman’s cue to leave, and, like a fool, he took it, returning to the others.

Remus leapt on him the moment he saw him. “How did it go, lover boy?”

Roman shot Logan a dirty look before turning back to Remus. “It went fantastically well.”

“Did it now? Did you get their number?”

“I did not. However, I am going out with them to a cafe tomorrow at 3.”

“Ooh, fancy!”

“It’s not actually. It’s just fancy compared to the places that you usually lurk.”

Remus shrugged. “Same difference.”

With that, he turned back and started singing with the crowd, and after a moment, Roman joined him.

The next day Roman arrived at the coffee shop at 5 to 3 and sat down in the spot that he had seen Virgil sitting at a couple of days before.

Virgil arrived at exactly 3, though Roman watched them hover around at the door for a couple of minutes before walking in. They walked over to Roman and sat down at the table.

“You said you were going to buy me a coffee?”

“Hello to you too. Yeah, if you tell me your order I’ll go get it.”

“One small black coffee, nothing added.”

“Ew.” Roman stood up and went to the counter before Virgil could reply. He ordered, “One small black coffee and one large caramel frappuccino.”, collected their drinks, and sat back down, handing Virgil their cup.

“So,” He said. “If you’re not from around here, where are you from?”

“What?” Virgil asked, confused.

“When we first met, you said that you were just in town for a concert. Where are you from?”

“Why do you need to know?”

Roman was surprised at the sudden hostility. “...To get to know you better and see if we can hang out more?”

“Mm. We’ll see.” Virgil took a slow sip of their coffee. “If you’re so interested in us getting to know each other, then you won’t mind if I ask you a few questions.”

“Sure, go ahead.”

“First of all, why are you so interested in me?”

“Because you’re hot.” Roman blurted out before he could stop himself. Now it was Virgil’s turn to be shocked. “And because you seem cool.” He added as if to cover it up. “And I was wondering if we could be friends?”

“Wait, hold up.” Virgil closed their eyes, confused. “You think I’m hot?”

“Um… yes.”

There was a moment of awkward silence.

“Um, okay. Moving on!”

“Fine by me!”

“Do you live in this town?”

“I do, yes. I have for the vast majority of my life. I live with my brother.”

“Is that the person that you came in with the other day?”

“No, that was Logan. Who, coincidentally, is dating my brother. And a friend of mine.”

“Okay.”

There was another awkward silence while they figured out what to say to each other.

“Do you want to go to the park? It’s kind of hot in here.” Roman said.

“Sure.”

With a scraping of chairs they stood up and walked out of the shop and down the street, still in silence. Talking to Virgil was harder than Roman had thought, but he was determined to get  
something out of them by the time they parted.

They walked together into the park and sat on a bench, watching as kids flew kites and played  
together on the playground.

“How long are you here for?” Roman asked.

“I’m leaving tomorrow morning.”

“Oh. That’s a pity. Your friend, Patton? Does he live here?”

“Yeah, he does. I’ve been staying with him.”

“Cool, cool.”

There was yet another silence, though this one wasn’t as awkward as the others.

Suddenly, Roman spotted a little shop by the edge of the grass. “Hey, look! They’re renting  
kites!”

He jumped up and walked over to the stand, throwing his cup away in the bin as he did so. Virgil followed him, close behind.

Roman paid for two kites and handed one to Virgil before running onto the grass. He unrolled it and ran, lifting it high into the air. He stood and watched it flapping in the breeze before looking back at Virgil.

“Come on! Lift it into the air!”

Virgil hesitated and looked down at the kite in their hands before letting it go and lifting it into the air. It lifted high and flapped next to Roman’s. The kites both dipped and twirled together, contrasting against the bright blue sky in their red and gold (Roman’s kite) and purple (Virgil’s).

“See! It’s fun, isn’t it?”

Roman looked over at Virgil, who looked back at him. Tentatively they let themself smile, and Roman grinned back at them before looking back up at the kites. He let his go out a bit more so that it floated higher above Virgil’s. He glanced over at Virgil who frowned back at him. He looked back up at the kites and scowled when he saw that Virgil’s was now above his.

He let his out even more and frowned harder as Virgil’s floated higher.

They continued like this, trying to best each other and get theirs higher than the other, until they ran out of string and their kites were high in the air, dots high in the sky.

Then, suddenly, the wind disappeared, and their kites plummeted to the ground. They both ran forward to catch them as they came closer and closer.

Virgil managed to just catch theirs, holding it close in their arms, but Roman was too close and it landed right on his head before falling onto the grass.

“Ow!” He complained. “That hurt!”

He heard Virgil snort and whipped around. “Hey!” He cried, rubbing his head. “Don’t laugh at me!”

“It couldn’t have hurt that much!” Virgil stifled a giggle. “You were only hit with the cloth part!”

“No! I was hit with the wooden bit! It hurt loads!”

“Sure you did.”

“Oh shut up emo nightmare. How did you even catch it from that high?” He picked up the kite and they headed back to the stand.

“I’ve had practice catching large things. Patton’s always falling out of trees. He falls out of basically every tree he climbs, and I don’t know why he doesn’t tell me before he does it. Someday I’m not going to be there and he’ll get seriously hurt.”

They gave the kites back and headed back through the park towards the exit.

“Hey!” Roman said, pulling out his phone. “You wanna take a selfie?”

“God, of course you would be one of those people.” Virgil sighed. “Sure, I guess.”

Roman and Virgil stood next to each other and smiled as Roman took the picture.

“I’ve always looked bad in photos. I don’t want it.” Virgil told Roman.

“You sure?”

“Definitely.”

“Alright then. I guess that concludes our date.”

“It wasn’t a date!” Roman couldn’t quite see, but he was sure that Virgil had flushed red under all of the white foundation that they had on. Their ears were certainly red.

He grinned. “If you say so. I had fun anyway!” He held out his hand and after a moment, Virgil shook it. “Are you getting picked up by someone?”

“Yeah, I am. Patton.” Virgil pulled out their own phone. “He should be coming soon. I told him to meet me at the park earlier.”

“Great! I’ll wait with you.”

“You really don’t-”

“I insist!”

“Um, okay.”

They stood in awkward silence for a few minutes until a light blue car pulled up to them.

“Again, it was great seeing you!” Roman called out as Virgil got in.

“Yeah, it was okay.”

“Maybe we can meet up some other time?”

“I’m leaving town tomorrow, so that probably won’t happen.”

“Oh. Well in that case, bye!”

“Bye.” Virgil shut the door and the car drove off, leaving Roman standing there on his own.

A few moments later, Remus’ car pulled up to him and the window closest to Roman lowered, revealing Remus behind the wheel, a gigantic grin on his face.

“How did it go?” He asked.

“It went absolutely wonderful!” Roman answered, sitting in shotgun. “I really softened them up!”

“Ooh! What did you do? Tell me all of the juicy details!”

“Remus!”

“What?” Remus said, an innocent look on his face. Roman scrutinised it before moving on.

“So, we sat in the coffeeshop for a bit, and we each had coffee. They had a small black coffee  
with nothing in it! Absolutely disgusting!”

“It is not!”

“Says the man who takes a bit out of the hotel’s soap everytime we go on holidays! Then we went to the park and finished our coffees.”

“That’s boring! Why didn’t you guys do some fun stuff?”

“I know exactly what your definition of fun is, Remus! Just let me finish!”

“Alright, alright! Jeez!”

“Thank you! And then we rented kites - well, I paid for them - and we flew them! We got into a  
competition of whose could fly higher but they ended up being the same height by the time that we ran out of string. But then… tragedy struck! The wind fell and with it, our kites!” Roman gasped dramatically, placing one hand delicately on his forehead. “They fell straight down and mine landed right on my head, injuring me terribly!”

Remus, who had been silent for the most part during this description, burst out laughing.

“It fell on your head!” He managed to say through the laughter. “I wish I had seen that! It would have been hilarious!”

“Oh shut up!” Roman whacked him gently on the arm. “Keep your eyes on the road!” Remus slowly stopped laughing and Roman continued. “Somehow, they managed to catch theirs perfectly. Said they had experience from catching one of their friends, who apparently can’t climb.

“Then we returned the kites and waited at the gates while Patton came and picked them up. They’re leaving tomorrow, so they have to pack their stuff I reckon.”

“But you have their number, right?”

Roman froze, realizing his idiocy.

“Oh my god, you didn’t get their number?” Remus grinned. “You know what this means!”

“That I’m never going to see the one who is clearly the love of my life again?”

“It means that we’re going to have to combine - me, Logan, Janus and you-”

“Janus, Logan, you and I.”

“Whatever! We’re going to have to find them! And if we can’t…” His grin spread, a touch of insanity reaching his eyes. “We’re going on a road trip!”


End file.
